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FRIDAY, Oct. 9, 2020<\/p>\n
The so-called love hormone, oxytocin<\/a>, may be worth investigating as a treatment for COVID-19<\/a>, a new study suggests.<\/p>\n One of the most serious complications of infection with the new coronavirus is a “cytokine storm,” in which the body attacks its own tissues.<\/p>\n There are currently no U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for COVID-19<\/a>, which means that “repurposing existing drugs<\/a> that can act on the adaptive immune response and prevent the cytokine storm in early phases of the disease is a priority,” according to the researchers.<\/p>\n Previous research suggests that oxytocin<\/a> — a hormone that’s produced in the brain and is involved in reproduction and childbirth<\/a> — reduces inflammation.<\/p>\n In this new study, researcher Ali Imami, a graduate research assistant at the University of Toledo in Ohio, and colleagues used a U.S. National Institutes of Health database to analyze characteristics of genes treated with drugs<\/a> closely related to oxytocin.<\/p>\n The investigators found that one drug in particular, carbetocin, has similar characteristics (called a signature) to genes with reduced expression of the inflammatory markers that trigger cytokine storm in COVID-19<\/a> patients.<\/p>\n Carbetocin’s signature suggests that the drug may trigger activation of immune cells called T-cells that play an important role in immune response. In addition, carbetocin’s signature is also similar to that of lopinavir, an antiretroviral medication under study as a treatment for COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n All of these factors indicate that oxytocin may have potential as a targeted treatment for cytokine storms in COVID-19<\/a> patients, the researchers said in a news release from the American Physiological Society.<\/p>\n “Understanding the mechanisms by which oxytocin or the oxytocin system can be a new immune target is crucial,” the authors concluded in their report, which was published online recently in the journal Physiological Genomics<\/i>.<\/p>\n However, they added that “safety and efficacy of intravenous oxytocin in hospitalized patients with COVID-19<\/a> remains to be assessed.”<\/p>\n — Robert Preidt<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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